The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-20
BLAINE IN PARIS.
The Maine Statesman Chats About His I'm
pressions of Europe.

The Maine Statesman Chats About His I'm
pressions of Europe.
Paris Special o the Post Dispatch.
I called on Mr.. Blaine yesterday II shall
not be in Paris much longer" ne said. 81 am
going to Rome very shortly, but the date of my
departure Ia not vet fixed | came to Paris in
October, intending only to stay three weeks, and
am still here It is probable that / shall return
after my journey south. l do not like this
Partisan winter, and these French fires not
at all comfortable. You have to very
heavy coats outside. and you don't get warm
when you come back in doors. But IN America
we are accustomed to milder weather The
most northern point of the United States is
about on a level with London, while Virginia is
about par with Africa Yet we have rig
orous winters. too, worse than even st Peters
burg just think the coolest weather they have
there is eight degrees Fahrenheit while
times In America we have it cold thirty
two degrees. Through the courtesy of Mr.. Nc
Lane, Mr.. Morton and myself were presented
to-day to President Carnot. he received
with the greatest cordially, and charmed
both with his civility. He took me,to his wife's
reception, and placed the presidential box at the
opera at my service. In common with most
people. 1 was pleasantly surprised at the very
quiet way in which the recent crisis was solved.
The French very demonstrative. but the
bottom have excellent good sense. l was the
Versailles congress- and the whole pro-
ceedines One thing struck me, and that is
that of all the Houses of Parliament have seen
it is in the American House of Congress where
the members behave with the most decorum.
The shouting, the cheering and the English
Hear. Hear. would not be tolerated there.
is it heard. Nor would any member think
OF keeping his hat on in Congress. as they do in
the British Parliament. Yet must say that
little applause is good encouragement to the
spesker-yes. like the actor. The Roman actors
used TO demand it with final vosplaudite. In
America appreciation is shown TO the
speaker by the mem bers crowding around him.
One OF my daughters is finishing her education
at French school. and thing that have
noticed about the French educational system is
what may describe as its somewhat narrow
otrjof rha arny of Eran
for instance, to be the only geography that the
French teachers seem to think worth knowing,
and, according TO them, the eighty seven de-
parrmen,s Of France are far and away more i'm
portant and worthy of study than the thirty
eight States of America As for this patriotism,
/ fancy the Germans must feel considerable irri-
.taton Ut the Parisians keeping the statue of
Strasburg i. the Place de la Concorde, and st
the way they go about Alsace-Lorraine The
French seem to forget that they originally took
these countries from the Germans, that the
language. customs and ways of thinking aud
even naming OF those people are German. aud.
moreover. that it is to the fact of their having
the pIodding. industrious. go-ahead character of
the German race that they owe their prosperity
and wealth. 1t is my opinion that in three gen.
erations at the most the people of Alsace-Lor-
rane will once again be German heart and soul
Il am not astonished at the small
amount of interest which is being taken in
France over the Shakespeare Bacon controversy.
The French know next to nothing about Ameri-
affairs. and very little about the English. l
myself am interested in this question in far
that know Mr.. Donneily. He is a very inge-
NOUS and subtle student. My own opinion on
the subject is that it is unfair and practically
impossible to argue as to the authenticity of the
works of man who died 300 years ago. It
does sound improbable that a man like Shak-
speare, a lounger in tap-rooms, n convicted
poacher and ne'er-do-well, who did not
succeed in any measure in his profession as
third rate actor. should be the author of such
works, and that should owe the sublimest
literature of any age and tongue to such a man.
But as say, argument alb improbable is emf
lv fair av1n for ips
man of VIGOROUSLY bad life One might, argu-
ing alb improbable. state that it IS impossible
that he should be tine author of his works. but
this has never been contested. Again, look at
Burns When we hear of him lounging with
louis in village public houses and putting gin
aud whisky about. might by the same argu-
ment prove that he WAS not the author of the
beautiful poems he wrote. Yes we all
turning to simple poetry. 1t is a reaction from
the intense, passionate, dramatic poetry of
Swinburne, for instance AS you say, it is the
soda after champagne"